السلام عليكمDear Sheikh, Is this hadith authentic and what is the source of the following hadith- [Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "There will come a time when man will be given a choice between being labeled incompetent and committing immorality. Whoever lives until that time should choose incompetence over immorality"]This Hadith was present in the book on page no. 179 - The End of The World Signs of The Hour Minor And Major By Dr. Muhammad Al-'Areefi [Darussalam ]

All perfect praise be to Allah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

The mentioned hadith was reported by Ahmad in Al-Musnad and Al-Hakim in Al-Mustadrak and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu’ab, and others from the hadith of Abu Hurairah . And in its chain of transmission, there is an unknown narrator, who is the one who narrates from Abu Hurayrah . Sheikh Shu'aib Al-Arnaout said in his review of Al-Musnad: “Its chain of transmission is weak due to not knowing the ambiguous (Mubham) narrator from Abu Hurairah." [End of Quote]. Al-Albani, may Allaah mercy upon him, also classed it as weak in the book al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah under No. 3711, and in Da’eef al-Jaami’ under No. 3294. So, based on this, this hadith's chain of transmission is weak.

As for its meaning, Al-Manawi said in Fayd Al-Qadeer in explaining the hadith:

(There will come a time upon people when a man will be given a choice between incapacity and immorality), that is between being incapacitated, alienated, and oppressed or leaving the obedience of Allah (so whoever lives until that time) and he was given a choice, (he must choose incapacity over immorality) because the soundness of the religion must be prioritized. [End of Quote].

Allah knows best.